NRM to create better service delivery
TODAY NRM unveils its 2011 election manifesto to the public. NRM has over the years transformed Uganda from the ruins it found it in way back in 1986.
By Moses Byaruhanga
TODAY NRM unveils its 2011 election manifesto to the public. NRM has over the years transformed Uganda from the ruins it found it in way back in 1986.
A lot has been invested in social services like education with the introduction of both free universal primary education and universal secondary and vocation education. Free education will now be extended to A†level and vocational education.
In the new manifesto, NRM addresses the challenge of service delivery, job creation, infrastructure development, corruption, investing in agriculture and transforming it from subsistence to commercial agriculture.
On the economy, the NRM is promising a continuation of the sound macro economic policies, maintaining inflation in single digits and making Uganda more attractive to investors. In this regard, through Uganda Investment Authority, land will be acquired and developed and serviced with roads, power, water and allocated to investors. Furthermore, investment in infrastructure like roads and power generation of 3,800 mega watts will reduce on the cost of doing business, making Uganda more attractive to investment. The NRM will also consolidate the commercial laws from the current 30 laws to about 10 laws and reduce on the procedures of registering a business including registering land.
On the informal businesses, NRM promises to give entrepreneur training to people engaged in small businesses, including assisting the said businesses on record keeping, which is vital if one is to acquire credit from financial institutions. Also, markets will be constructed in towns and on road sides so as to give our people working space. Management of those markets will be in the hands of the market vendors through their associations and the Government will maintain its abolition of daily market dues so that vendors pay only a monthly rental for the stalls their occupy. NRM will also provide serviced work places like workshops for metal fabricators, carpenters and other people involved in such businesses.
The NRM will also rationalise the fees charged in taxi parks. Taxi operators complain that when a taxi moves from say Jinja to Kamuli, it is charged a fee in Jinja park and when along the way in drops a person at say Buwenge, the same taxi is charged a fee. And when it reaches Kamuli and loads passengers to go back to Jinja, it is charged another fee. At the end of the day, a single taxi pays about sh15,000 in such dues, in one round trip from Jinja to Kamuli and back to Jinja. Monthly, this becomes sh390,000 considering that a taxi operating for 26 days allowing a day every week for maintenance. In a year the taxi pays Shs. 4.6 million. The NRM cannot allow this exploitation go on.
The NRM is also targeting the youth. This will be done through attraction of more investors as indicated above. NRM will introduce a youth entrepreneur fund to be accessed by youth who have bankable projects. The fund will be operated through the banks with low interest rate charged without asking for collateral/ security. Government will also give score points during evaluation of tenders when a youth operated business is supplying a government department. Other ventures like ICT business parks will offer jobs to the youth. Under NAADS, special attention will be given to the youth.
On increasing savings, the NRM recognises that there is a lot of money which is unbanked in the countryside. Many of the banks operate in big towns and municipalities. The bankers say that it costs about $250,000 (about sh600m) to open a branch. This among others is a hindrance to extending financial services to rural areas. The NRM will give incentives to banks that open branches in the countryside to enable them offset the cost of opening a branch mentioned above. Incentives will also be offered to banks that introduce products like mobile banking. Furthermore, linkage banking that allows banks to appoint agents to act on their behalf will be introduced. The NRM will also strengthen the SACCOs and make sure that the sub counties that do not have them start them.
On better service delivery, NRM already invested in education, health, water roads but there is poor service delivery which is manifested in theft of medicines, absenteeism of teachers and health workers, shoddy civil works etc.
On medicines, the NRM government started embossing drugs to prevent their sale in private drug shops. The NRM will increase accountability by public officials. The measures will include appointing chief administrative officers and sub county chiefs on performance contracts. Renewal of their contracts will be based on assessment in respect to implementation of government programmes and accountability of public funds. Where there is evidence of shoddy works and poor accountability for public funds, such an officer’s contract will not be renewed. The sub county chiefs will have to exercise their supervisory role over the public officers like teachers and health workers under their jurisdiction. Measures will also be instituted to hold Residence District Commissioners (RDCs) responsible for failure to report poor implementation of government programmes. An RDC is by law empowered to monitor implementation of government programmes and cause audits by IGG or the Auditor General (AG) where they find unsatisfactory performance.
On corruption, the president will ask public officials under investigation to step aside during the time of investigation. NRM will also strengthen the investigation and prosecution capacities. A lot has already been achieved through creation of independent offices of the AG, IGG and Director of Public Prosecutions. The role played by Parliamentary oversight committees like Public Accounts Committee is part of the NRM’s commitment in fighting corruption. It is not Hon. Nandala Mafabi fighting corruption in PAC but NRM because it is the one that decided to put such committees in the hands of opposition for the purpose of checking on the executive.
On health and education, NRM will recruit more teachers and health workers and invest in housing for both teachers and health workers. Laboratories and libraries will be built in schools. NRM will implement social health insurance through contributions from pension funds without making contributors to such schemes pay more. For instance, from the 15% workers and employees pay to National Social Security Fund, part of it will go to health insurance. On wages, NRM will progressively increase them as the economy improves and pay all pensioners their dues. On water, NRM targets access to clean water within a radius of one kilometre to be increased from 65% to 100%.
On industrialisation, the NRM will commercialise the business prototypes which have been developed by Uganda Industrial Research Institute. Furthermore, NRM will support cottage industries and invest in processing of whatever is not consumed fresh. All these investments, including investment in infrastructure like roads and energy will create jobs.
On housing, NRM will give incentives to real estate developers which will include land, abolition of capital gains tax on the sale of houses and capitalize National Housing Company to enable it play a leading role in the sector. Our slum improvement policy will include provision of water and sanitation services like water borne toilets in slum areas.
Senior Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs
TODAY NRM unveils its 2011 election manifesto to the public. NRM has over the years transformed Uganda from the ruins it found it in way back in 1986.
A lot has been invested in social services like education with the introduction of both free universal primary education and universal secondary and vocation education. Free education will now be extended to A†level and vocational education.
In the new manifesto, NRM addresses the challenge of service delivery, job creation, infrastructure development, corruption, investing in agriculture and transforming it from subsistence to commercial agriculture.
On the economy, the NRM is promising a continuation of the sound macro economic policies, maintaining inflation in single digits and making Uganda more attractive to investors. In this regard, through Uganda Investment Authority, land will be acquired and developed and serviced with roads, power, water and allocated to investors. Furthermore, investment in infrastructure like roads and power generation of 3,800 mega watts will reduce on the cost of doing business, making Uganda more attractive to investment. The NRM will also consolidate the commercial laws from the current 30 laws to about 10 laws and reduce on the procedures of registering a business including registering land.
On the informal businesses, NRM promises to give entrepreneur training to people engaged in small businesses, including assisting the said businesses on record keeping, which is vital if one is to acquire credit from financial institutions. Also, markets will be constructed in towns and on road sides so as to give our people working space. Management of those markets will be in the hands of the market vendors through their associations and the Government will maintain its abolition of daily market dues so that vendors pay only a monthly rental for the stalls their occupy. NRM will also provide serviced work places like workshops for metal fabricators, carpenters and other people involved in such businesses.
The NRM will also rationalise the fees charged in taxi parks. Taxi operators complain that when a taxi moves from say Jinja to Kamuli, it is charged a fee in Jinja park and when along the way in drops a person at say Buwenge, the same taxi is charged a fee. And when it reaches Kamuli and loads passengers to go back to Jinja, it is charged another fee. At the end of the day, a single taxi pays about sh15,000 in such dues, in one round trip from Jinja to Kamuli and back to Jinja. Monthly, this becomes sh390,000 considering that a taxi operating for 26 days allowing a day every week for maintenance. In a year the taxi pays Shs. 4.6 million. The NRM cannot allow this exploitation go on.
The NRM is also targeting the youth. This will be done through attraction of more investors as indicated above. NRM will introduce a youth entrepreneur fund to be accessed by youth who have bankable projects. The fund will be operated through the banks with low interest rate charged without asking for collateral/ security. Government will also give score points during evaluation of tenders when a youth operated business is supplying a government department. Other ventures like ICT business parks will offer jobs to the youth. Under NAADS, special attention will be given to the youth.
On increasing savings, the NRM recognises that there is a lot of money which is unbanked in the countryside. Many of the banks operate in big towns and municipalities. The bankers say that it costs about $250,000 (about sh600m) to open a branch. This among others is a hindrance to extending financial services to rural areas. The NRM will give incentives to banks that open branches in the countryside to enable them offset the cost of opening a branch mentioned above. Incentives will also be offered to banks that introduce products like mobile banking. Furthermore, linkage banking that allows banks to appoint agents to act on their behalf will be introduced. The NRM will also strengthen the SACCOs and make sure that the sub counties that do not have them start them.
On better service delivery, NRM already invested in education, health, water roads but there is poor service delivery which is manifested in theft of medicines, absenteeism of teachers and health workers, shoddy civil works etc.
On medicines, the NRM government started embossing drugs to prevent their sale in private drug shops. The NRM will increase accountability by public officials. The measures will include appointing chief administrative officers and sub county chiefs on performance contracts. Renewal of their contracts will be based on assessment in respect to implementation of government programmes and accountability of public funds. Where there is evidence of shoddy works and poor accountability for public funds, such an officer’s contract will not be renewed. The sub county chiefs will have to exercise their supervisory role over the public officers like teachers and health workers under their jurisdiction. Measures will also be instituted to hold Residence District Commissioners (RDCs) responsible for failure to report poor implementation of government programmes. An RDC is by law empowered to monitor implementation of government programmes and cause audits by IGG or the Auditor General (AG) where they find unsatisfactory performance.
On corruption, the president will ask public officials under investigation to step aside during the time of investigation. NRM will also strengthen the investigation and prosecution capacities. A lot has already been achieved through creation of independent offices of the AG, IGG and Director of Public Prosecutions. The role played by Parliamentary oversight committees like Public Accounts Committee is part of the NRM’s commitment in fighting corruption. It is not Hon. Nandala Mafabi fighting corruption in PAC but NRM because it is the one that decided to put such committees in the hands of opposition for the purpose of checking on the executive.
On health and education, NRM will recruit more teachers and health workers and invest in housing for both teachers and health workers. Laboratories and libraries will be built in schools. NRM will implement social health insurance through contributions from pension funds without making contributors to such schemes pay more. For instance, from the 15% workers and employees pay to National Social Security Fund, part of it will go to health insurance. On wages, NRM will progressively increase them as the economy improves and pay all pensioners their dues. On water, NRM targets access to clean water within a radius of one kilometre to be increased from 65% to 100%.
On industrialisation, the NRM will commercialise the business prototypes which have been developed by Uganda Industrial Research Institute. Furthermore, NRM will support cottage industries and invest in processing of whatever is not consumed fresh. All these investments, including investment in infrastructure like roads and energy will create jobs.
On housing, NRM will give incentives to real estate developers which will include land, abolition of capital gains tax on the sale of houses and capitalize National Housing Company to enable it play a leading role in the sector. Our slum improvement policy will include provision of water and sanitation services like water borne toilets in slum areas.
Senior Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs